A Thousand Days
by AnnaOtaku
Summary: Desperate and stricken with greif, Fred and Hermione travel back in time to undo the tragic series of events that have left them alone in Voldemort's new world. As they work to defeat the dark lord, they find a startling reason to keep the past in chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**This is just an idea. Tell me if it's stupid. I didn't give it that much thought.**

_So far away we wait for the day  
For the light source so wasted and gone  
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days  
Through the fire and the flames we carry on_

Hermione ran down the hallways, dodging spells, Fred on her tail. She reached the Gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office, the last safe place in the castle. She stopped, panting, clinging to the statue for support.

_Ginny's body, sprawled across the floor, her hair so blood-soaked that Hermione couldn't tell what was her real hair color. For the first time in a long time, Harry cried. _

"L-lemon drops?" She asked, trying to control her sobbing. Fred stood with his back against hers, firing spells down the hall. The Death Eaters were closing in, and the maniacal laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange could be heard.

_Ron was next, grief washing over him. He went after his sister's killer, too many tears in his eyes for him to see clearly. He fell to the ground. Hermione puked in the corner, tears pouring freely from her eyes. Harry had disappeared._

The gargoyle took one look at the scene and said, gruffly, "Close enough." Without hesitation, Hermione grabbed the red-haired boy's hand, pulling him up the stairs. They ran, though their legs were about to give out, until they were safely barricaded in Dumbledore's office. He slumped against the desk, weary, as she rummaged through the drawers, frantically searching.

_Neville and Luna went down fighting together, as smoothly as clockwork. It had been Bellatrix; Hermione was still plagued by her cackling face as she stepped over their bodies. _

"What are you doing, Hermione? What could help us now?" Fred gazed at her without emotion, dark circles rimming his red, puffy eyes. The bushy-haired girl said nothing, deep in her search.

_George. Oh, George. A nameless Deatheater, wandless, had attacked him from behind, peircing him through with a spear from one of the suits of armor. Fred watched, too busy saving Hermione to come to his rescue._

"I found it!" She shrieked, holding up what seemed to be a Time Turner. Fred gave her a weird look.

"What? We're going back a few hours to stop Voldemort?" She shook her head, smiling maniacally.

"No! There were elements of this war that we never knew, horcruxes that weren't destroyed." She was close to sobbing at this point.

_Harry. "The Boy Who Lived". Her best friend. Their one hope. Voldemort killed him as two deatheaters held him down. After that, it was chaos, one bloody massacre. Fred and Hermione escaped, hearing the screams of Mrs. Weasley and Professor Sprout behind them._

"So…I don't understand." The gargoyle downstairs screamed, the sounds of slicing and crunching metal following. Without hesitation, Hermione threw the time turner around Fred's neck, spinning the little hourglass.

She felt as if she had been sucked through a tiny hole, like apparition and floo powder at the same time. She held on to Fred, who gripped her shoulders tightly. They fell backwards as the spinning slowed down, landing on the floor of Dumbledore's office.

"It worked." Hermione knew the differences when she saw them. Fawkes sat in the corner, sleeping. There was no portrait of Dumbledore on the wall, and the sounds of DeathEaters were gone. The moon was bright outside the window, the only light in the room. The Headmaster was not in sight.

"Where…er, when are we?" Fred asked, releasing his vice-grip on the small girl. She shrugged, wobbling a bit. The young man grabbed her elbow to steady her, and it was silently decided that they needed to find a place to sleep.

"Room of Requirement?" She asked, eyes drooping. He nodded, and the two walked silently down the stairs and into the hall. They were too tired to care about running into Peeves or Filch, too tired for anything. Too tired to talk, too tired to walk, too tired to live.

But they had to. For Harry's sake. For George's sake. For Ron and Ginny and Neville and Luna and everyone they had watched be murdered.

For the world's sake.

As they trudged past the familiar bare wall for the third time, a small door appeared, and they walked through it gratefully. Without a further word, they slumped on the beds that had been provided for them, and let the grief of the world wash over them.

In the morning, they would set out to change the course of the future.

**I know it's short. It's a pilot. PLEASE PLEASE tell me what you think! I need to know if I should continue!**


	2. Chapter 2

_So far away we wait for the day  
For the light source so wasted and gone  
We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days  
Through the fire and the flames we carry on_

Hermione woke from a fitful sleep, feeling as tired as she had a few hours previous. Dark faces and cold laughter had filled her dreams, surrounded by blood-so much blood. She turned to where Fred was slumped against the wall, legs dangling over the edge of his bed. He was shaking.

"Fred?" Hermione's voice cracked, her throat dry and sore. He looked up, wiping at his eyes.

"Yeah?" She heard the tremble in his voice, and knew who he was thinking of.

"Nothing." The girl stood, walking over to the small window that overlooked the grounds, urging tears to come.

They didn't.

All she could feel was a gnawing numbness in her chest, creeping slowly to her mind. She knew it was partly exhaustion, yes, but it frightened her. Her friends, however far into the future now, were dead. All dead. And a Dark Lord had taken control of the world she had come to love. Muggles would die. Wizards and witches would become slaves. The sun would never rise on her world again.

But the young girl could not cry.

"What year do you suppose this is?" She asked a few minutes later, after watching students run from the greenhouses to their indoor classes, shrieking and laughing as it started to pour.

"I dunno. What _is_ this thing, by the way? A normal time turner couldn't take us _this_ far back, could it?" The young man stood from the bed, holding the small hourglass necklace in his hand. She smiled sadly.

"No, and they all got smashed in the Department of Mysteries. This is an invention of Dumbledore's, mentioned it once in passing when we were discussing my…time issue in third year. It's a time warper. It goes by years, not hours. I don't know why he was making it, but I knew it was our only chance."

"To what, exactly?" Fred gave her a pathetic look-filled with a longing for everything to turn out right, but a massive, shadowing doubt that it could never happen.

"To stop Voldemort ourselves. We know the Horcruxes, we know the traitors. We know what happens. They don't." A light was shining in her eyes, and Fred accepted it, desperate for any ounce of hope.

"Alright. Let's make a run for the gates while class is going on." She nodded, looking around the room quickly. Spotting the small closet in the corner, she raced over and pulled it open. From it's depths she pulled two cloaks: one black and one dark red. They pulled them on to cover their bloody clothes, then left the room, walking briskly down the familiar hall.

The castle was quiet, the students in their classes. They made it to the grounds without trouble, then spotted trouble. Two all too familiar figures were walking slowly in their direction, talking in hushed voices. Fred pulled Hermione behind Hagrid's hut, crouching low. Hermione wanted to scream when she saw who the men were.

First, was Albus Dumbledore. The man was unmistakable. His long white beard hung down to his knees, blue eyes sparkling out from behind half-moon glasses. Hermione knew she shouldn't be surprised to see him; he had been at the school for many, many years. But the man next to him nearly caused the poor girl to faint.

"That…that can't be Harry, can it?" Fred whispered, gripping Hermione's shoulder. She shook her head. He was too old, twenty or so, and they were in the past, not some impossible future.

"That…he must be James. Harry's father." Fred nodded. "I guess I know where…when we are, now. Before Harry's birth. Before their…death."

James nodded solemnly at something Dumbledore said, then turned to leave. Dumbledore came dangerously close, knocking on Hagrid's door. As soon as he entered the hut, Hermione ran after James, who was nearing the gates. Fred sprinted after her, eyes wide. _She's completely lost it_.

Just as Harry's father was about to reach the no-apparation boundary, Hermione grabbed onto his robes, gasping for breath. "Wait! James! Wait!" He stopped, eyebrows raised.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" He asked, his voice eerily like Harry's. Fred caught up with them, panting slightly.

"Hermione! What are you doing?" He hissed, scowling. She ignored him, eyes on the dark-haired man in front of her.

"No, but we know you. Please, we need to talk to you, in private-" He stopped her, holding his hand up.

"Well, that's a creepy way of putting it. Now if you excuse me, I have to get home to my wife. Thank you." He turned to leave, but Hermione refused to let him slip from their fingers.

"Lily? Oh, I'm sure she's used to you being late. You know, out partying with Remus and Sirius…maybe Peter too…" He froze, the spun on the spot, wielding his wand like a sword.

"How do you know about Lily?" He asked, fear and anger mixed in his voice. So much like his son…

Fred stepped in front of Hermione, blocking her from James's view. "We'll explain everything. We just need to get to a safe place, indoors maybe…" The dark-haired man's eyes narrowed, but he nodded in understanding.

"Fine. Come with me." He held out his arms, and Hermione and Fred grabbed on, letting James apparate away.

They landed on the floor of a familiar room. The walls were torn up and the legs of the furniture mangled.

"Where are we?" Fred asked quietly, letting go of James's arm.

"The Shrieking Shack," Hermione answered before James could. Her best friend's father narrowed his eyes, then with a muttering of words and swipe of his wand, bound Hermione and Fred together, back-to-back. They fell to the floor in a painful heap, legs entangled, cheeks flat against the floor. James then sent his patronus, a stag like Harry, off, through the cracks of a boarded up window. A message, Hermione guessed.

In a seconds, or so it felt to Hermione, two loud "pop"s indicated the arrival of their new interrogators.

"What's this all about James? Who are they?" The unmistakable voice of Remus Lupin asked.

"Merlin," A husky voice sounded from behind them. _Sirius_. "You've taken to tying up _kids_ now? The Order's really gotten to you, mate."

James wasn't amused. "They knew about Lily. About you two, and Peter. They're spies. They have to be."

Remus carefully edged his way around the boy and girl lying on the ground to where he could see their faces. Hermione had been expecting him, but Fred, who knew much less about Harry's parents and their past, was slightly taken aback.

"Professor Lupin?" He asked without thinking. Hermione kicked him as best she could and he clamped his mouth shut.

"Professor? Ha, this kid's got you pegged down exactly, Moony. You _would_ become a teacher, you like your books so much." Sirius laughed, moving over to where Remus stood.

"Moony? As in the Marauder's Map?" Fred asked, bewildered.

"Didn't I ever tell you that?" Hermione whispered to him as the men looked at them, bewildered.

"No. Thanks a lot, Granger. I knew two of my heroes without ever realizing it?" The two teenagers started bickering quietly, leaving the three men to discuss what was happening.

"The map? Heroes? I don't think these kids are dangerous, James. Just fans." Sirius seemed to like that idea a lot, his handsome face lighting up with a smile.

"Professor? Why would they mistake me for a professor? And how did they know my name?" Remus peered into space, thinking.

"Wait. The boy said they knew two of us. But we've never met them before. Am I just going crazy, or what?" James sounded frantic, worried for Lily and their unnamed baby.

"What's going on? Who _are _these kids?" Sirius was starting to get impatient. The boy and girl had finally fallen silent, their fight over.

"I have an idea," Remus muttered. The young man turned to the hostages, crouching down so he could see their faces. _They're awfully beat up. The girl still has blood on her lip. And the boy is lucky to have his eye with that gash over it._ "You, there…"

"Hermione."

"Hermione. What year is it?" She turned white, brain racing, calculating.

"Er…1979?" She sounded very unsure, strained.

_Close. But not right. _"You said you knew us, right? What is the name of Lily and James's child?"

"Harry." She responded quickly this time, sure of herself.

James looked at Remus, eyes wide.

"Harry?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, Harry. Harry James Potter."

James's mouth hung open, words trying to come out. "B-but…we didn't know…we were going…to let the baby's sex…be a surprise…how do you…?"

Remus nodded, his theory correct. "It's obvious James. They're not spies. They're from the future."

**Okay, that chapter was lame. I'm sorry. More to come…eventually…if school doesn't kill me first…**

**R&R Pleez!!!**


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